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The Gift of the Nile
Like a giant snake, the Nile River slithers through some of the driest desert land on earth to isolate a narrow green valley. The ancient Greeks called this land Egypt. For more than five thousand years, great and often mysterious civilizations have thrived along the banks of the Nile.About 450BC, a Greek historian named Herodotus called Egypt the "Gift of the Nile" because the Egyptian civilization depended on the resources of the great river.
Every spring, the snow in the mountains of East Africa melted, sending a torrent of water that overflowed the banks of the Nile and flooded the river valley. The rushing river picked up bits of soil and plant life called silt. As the flood receded, a strip of black soil emerged every year along the banks of the Nile. The silt was rich in nutrients, and it provided the people of Egypt with two or three crops every year.
The Nile made it possible for the people of ancient Egypt to form the first nation in history because the Egyptian people were isolated from the rest of the world. A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnic background or history. The land beyond the Nile River Valley is the Sahara Desert. A desert is land that receives less than ten inches of rain in a typical year. Since it is nearly impossible to grow much food in the desert, few people lived far from the banks of the Nile. Giant boulders blocked the Nile and formed a natural border at the southern Egyptian city of Aswan. The Nile flows into the vast Mediterranean Sea, which formed Egypt's border to the north. Egypt's isolation led to its unification. People living along the banks of the Nile River spoke the same language and worshipped many of the same gods more than five thousand years ago.
Every spring, the snow in the mountains of East Africa melted, sending a torrent of water that overflowed the banks of the Nile and flooded the river valley. The rushing river picked up bits of soil and plant life called silt. As the flood receded, a strip of black soil emerged every year along the banks of the Nile. The silt was rich in nutrients, and it provided the people of Egypt with two or three crops every year.
The Nile made it possible for the people of ancient Egypt to form the first nation in history because the Egyptian people were isolated from the rest of the world. A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnic background or history. The land beyond the Nile River Valley is the Sahara Desert. A desert is land that receives less than ten inches of rain in a typical year. Since it is nearly impossible to grow much food in the desert, few people lived far from the banks of the Nile. Giant boulders blocked the Nile and formed a natural border at the southern Egyptian city of Aswan. The Nile flows into the vast Mediterranean Sea, which formed Egypt's border to the north. Egypt's isolation led to its unification. People living along the banks of the Nile River spoke the same language and worshipped many of the same gods more than five thousand years ago.
Modern Nile River
The Nile no longer overflows its banks because modern Egyptians built a huge dam in Aswan. The Aswan High Dam was completed in 1970. It holds back water in Lake Nasser during the spring, and provides a reliable flow of water for Egyptian farmers in the dry season. The people of Egypt are now able to convert the predictable flow of the Nile into electricity. When the Aswan High Dam was first completed, it provided electricity to more than half of the villages along the Nile. The population of Egypt has grown since then, but the Aswan High Dam still contributes about fifteen percent of Egypt's electricity. Unlike oil, the flowing water is renewable, which means that the river will not run out. Even today, the Nile River continues to provide for the Egyptian people.